The Flames of Regret
by Salmon
Summary: Well, this is a Pyrus fanfic mainly. It also involves Mica, Graveheart, and some original characters. That's not a very good description, but R&R, please!


Well, I've only seen Season 1 and a few (about 4) episodes of Season 2, so if I've got anything really wrong, blame it on ignorance. I just corrected the grammar mistakes. And fixed it up so you can tell where scenes switch better.

* * *

**The Flames of Regret**  
_A War Planets/Shadow Raiders Fanfic  
_  
Planet Fire...many years ago...  
  
"Pyrus, are you sure you know where your going?" A little girl's voice asked.  
  
"Pipe down, Ember, if anyone catches us they'll send us right back to bed." A younger Pyrus replied.  
  
"It's silly if you ask me, what's the big deal?" A little boy's voice opinioned.  
  
"No one did ask you, Flare."  
  
"Nobody asked you to come, either." The little girl's voice added.  
  
"Hey, I'm an Igneous Knight. I can't let my prince go off alone." The other little boy replied. "I have to protect him."  
  
"You're not an Igneous Knight."  
  
"And since you're a Lady, I have to protect you too. Even if you are annoying."  
  
"I'm safer with one of our enemies than being protected by you."  
  
"Take that back!"  
  
"Not ever!"  
  
"You better!"  
  
"Hey, you can't threaten me! I'm a ranked lady and you're just a commoner."  
  
"Ember, you're such a title-happy twit."  
  
"Take that back you mud-brained commoner!"  
  
"Never ever, you title-happy twit!"  
  
"Mud-brained Commoner!"  
  
"Title-Happy Twit!"  
  
"Mud-Brained Commoner!!"  
  
"Title-Happy Twit!!"  
  
"SHUT-UP!!!!" Pyrus shouted. "You're going to get us caught!!"  
  
"I'm sorry." Flare told him, instantly contrite.  
  
"I'm sorry, too." Ember spoke up.  
  
The pitch-black corridor was finally lit up as the three children rounded the corner. "Keep it down. We're almost there. We'll be able to see some of the festival from the tower balcony, even if we can't go down there." Pyrus told them,  
  
"Are we really making peace with the other planets?" Ember asked.  
  
"Of course." Pyrus replied. "Father invited all the other kings to discuss it. They're on world right now - that's why the celebration."  
  
They climbed up a set of stairs to a door. "I don't think it will work." Flare spoke up. "How can we forget everything they've done to us? Stealing and fighting..."  
  
"We steal from them and fight them, too." Ember reminded him, and began to pick the lock.  
  
"Yah, but that's different."  
  
"My father doesn't think it is." Pyrus stated. "That's why he's making peace. Because it's silly for us to steal what we need when we could trade. And why shouldn't they agree to make peace? They need our resources as much as we need theirs."  
  
"Got it." Ember swung the door open.  
  
"Come on." Pyrus led the way inside, shutting the door behind them.  
  
"But we've been enemies forever. Maybe the other kings don't want to make peace." Flare suggested, as they walked onto the balcony.  
  
"Why would they be here if they didn't?" Pyrus asked.  
  
"Oh! Fireworks!" Ember pulled herself up to look over the balcony wall. "The festival's still going...I wish we were down there."  
  
"Me too." Flare balanced partially on the wall. "I bet they've got all sorts of...hm?"  
  
"What is it?" Pyrus leaned mostly off the wall to look.  
  
"There's fighting!"  
  
"Where?" Ember looked.  
  
"There! Watch out!" He jumped down, and pulled the other two off the wall as weapon's fire began shooting through the air. Ember covered her head with a scream.  
  
"Back inside!" Pyrus ordered. They ran into the tower, and out the door - leaving it open behind them.  
  
"I don't get it. What happened?" Ember asked as they ran down the stairs.  
  
"I TOLD you. They're our enemies. They don't want peace." Flare replied.  
  
"But that doesn't make any sense." Pyrus said.  
  
"It's just the way things are."  
  
"It's not the way they should be."  
  
"Argue later, let's go." Ember told them. An explosion shook the palace and she screamed again as they were thrown to the ground.  
  
"Hurry." Pyrus pulled them to their feet, and took the lead as they ran on.

* * *

Present Day...Fire Flagship...Planet Ice...  
  
"They're going to go into sparks if you're gone much longer." A teenage Firian girl told Pyrus from the flame screen.  
  
Pyrus sighed. "Thanks, Ember. I'll be there soon."  
  
"Yes, my Prince." Ember bowed, and the flame screen winked out.  
  
"Prepare the ship for departure." Pyrus ordered the bridge crew. "I'll return shortly."

* * *

Present Day...A Battle Moon...  
  
Ember sighed as the flame screen winked out, and sat down. A buzzer sounded. She pushed a button at the desk she sate at. "Who is it?"  
  
"Igneous Knight Flare to see Lady Ember."  
  
Ember stood up and walked to the door, punching a code into the door lock. "Enter." She headed back to the desk.  
  
Flare entered, typing the code back into the doorlock. "And?"  
  
"And?"  
  
"Our Prince?" Flare took off the helmet to his Igneous Knight uniform.  
  
"Is returning to the Battle Moon."  
  
"Good." Flare opinioned. "I don't like it when he spends too much time with the Offworlders anyway."  
  
"You sound like our late Grand Vizier."  
  
"I can't help it if I think there's too much bad blood between our races for the Alliance to endure."  
  
"We're lucky not everyone is of that opinion. Otherwise our entire race would have died with Fire." Ember mentioned.  
  
"I suppose." Flae sat on her desk, setting his helmet down. "But narrow minds like mine are needed to combat the open minds the like of you and our Prince."  
  
"I'm not as open-minded as our Prince. I don't fully believe in the Alliance. Still, the fact remains we would all be dead without it. And I believe and trust in our Prince."  
  
"I would feel better if he allowed you or I to accompany him on his trips to the other planets."  
  
"I would feel better for that, too. But he wants us to look after our people while he's away...not that he's away for long anymore. He hasn't even been gone a day, and they're going into sparks out there."  
  
"He need to name a new second. A new Grand Vizier." Flare pointed out.  
  
"Are you going to tell him." Ember asked.  
  
"Not I." Flare answered. "I'm just an Igneous Knight. You're the ranked one, remember?"  
  
"I'm simply one of over two dozen nobles. What right have I to tell the Prince how to reign?"  
  
"You're a coward." Flare informed her with a sigh.  
  
"Yes...we both are." Ember agreed, and leaned her head on her hand wearily.

* * *

Present Day...Planet Ice...  
  
"Graveheart?"  
  
Graveheart turned to his room's doorway. "Prince Pyrus, is something wrong?"  
  
"In a way." Pyrus sighed. "I have to return to the Battle Moons."  
  
"Has something happened?"  
  
"No, but...my people have been rather...dependant lately. They get edgy when I'm gone."  
  
"We can hold the council for you." Graveheart offered.  
  
"No, it would be best if you went on with it. I'll return as soon as I can." Pyrus told him.  
  
"Alright, if that's what you want. Have you told Cryos you're going?"  
  
"Yes. I hope the council goes well." Pyrus turned to leave, and knocked a small box off the desk. He whirled back. "I'm sorry." He knelt to pick up the box's spilt contents. "It's been a long day."  
  
"It's alright." Graveheart knelt to pick up some of the scattered items.  
  
Pyrus picked up a small picture frame and froze. Inside was a picture of a young rock Quarrior. "Mica?" He whispered.  
  
"Did you say something?" Graveheart held up the box to him.  
  
Pyrus dropped the rest of the items, except for the picture, into the box. "Who is this?"  
  
Graveheart took the picture slowly. "This was my brother, Mica."  
  
"Brother?" Pyrus' eyes widened.  
  
"Yes...he died on a raiding mission." Graveheart put the picture in the box.  
  
"...On whose world?" Pyrus queried.  
  
"It doesn't really matter."  
  
"...I suppose not...I have to go." He hurried out of the room, stopping after he turned the corner into the next hallway. "Mica...Graveheart's brother...?"

* * *

Planet Fire...Several Years Ago...  
  
"We shouldn't be out this far so soon after a battle." Ember stated, clinging to Flare's arm.  
  
"Don't be such a coward. This is exciting." Flare told her.  
  
"Several of our ships were destroyed last night." Ember reminded him. "I wouldn't call that exciting."  
  
"It's not that much farther." Pyrus told them. "That ridge up ahead is where some of Rock's Quarriors were stationed. Maybe we'll find a piece of a ship...or a helmet."  
  
"Why do you collect things from the other worlds? You always come out and pick up some pieces of debris after the battles." Ember pointed out.  
  
"Aren't you curious about the other worlds? Don't you want to know what they look like? What they feel like?" Pyrus asked her.  
  
"Well...yes..."  
  
"What's the big deal?" Flare asked.  
  
"Oh, Flare." Ember shook her head. "Of course you don't get it. You're in training to become an Igneous Knight. You'll get to go to the other worlds. But I'm stuck here on homeworld forever. My whole life. And Pyrus, though Prince, is in the same fix. He'll probably never set foot on the other planets."  
  
"Those other planets are our enemies. Why are you two so curious?"  
  
"Enemies." Pyrus shook his head. "Why are we enemies? It doesn't make much sense, does it? Killing eachother over resources we could trade."  
  
"Oh don't start that again." Flare sighed. "Your father tried to make peace, remember? The other worlds don't want to."  
  
"It is a pity -ah!" Ember screeched as she tripped.  
  
"Don't be so clumsy." Flare helped her to her feet.  
  
"I found a piece of your debris." Ember mentioned, holding up a scorched piece of metal.  
  
"How about something less destroyed?" Pyrus was amused. "Like a helmet...or a weapon..."  
  
"A body?" Ember suggested.  
  
"No chance of that." Flare told her.  
  
"That's what you think."  
  
"I'm the one in training to be an Igneous Knight, right? Trust me."  
  
"Then what do you call that?" Ember pointed.  
  
Pyrus and Flare turned. Near the lava river lay a rock man, face down. His armor was scorched, and his body sprawled on the rocks.  
  
"A dead Quarrior." Flare whispered.  
  
"By the inferno, let's get out of here." Ember said. "Pyrus? Pyrus??"  
  
Pyrus walked slowly across the rocky terrain to the motionless form. "He must have fallen into the lava river, and been tossed onto the shore...his armor's all scorched..." He reached out a hand to touch him.  
  
"Pyrus!" Ember called.  
  
Suddenly the motionless form shot to life, whirling to grab Pyrus' wrist. His eyes were wide and wild. "Ember! Flare!" Pyrus shouted.  
  
Flare was already at Pyrus' side, and Ember was not far behind. "Let go of him!" Flare grabbed the Quarrior's arm, pullin on it.  
  
"Let go of our Prince, Rockhound!" Ember started hitting him. "Let go!"  
  
"Help! Burning!" As suddenly as he'd awakened he collapsed into unconsciousness, his grip loosening. Pyrus lept away, as did Ember and Flare.  
  
"Is he?" Ember asked.  
  
"No, but he's injured badly." Pyrus answered.  
  
"We should report this." Flare mentioned.  
  
"We're not even supposed to be out here." Ember reminded him.  
  
"He looks so young." Pyrus whispered.  
  
"He's a Rock Quarrior." Flare replied. "He's dangerous."  
  
"He must have fallen off the cliff, into the lava river, and was thrown ashore. He's mad with pain." Pyrus stated.  
  
"What are we going to do?" Ember asked.  
  
"We should report him right away." Flare put in.  
  
"They'll kill him." Pyrus told him.  
  
"He's an enemy."  
  
"He's injured...we'll take him to one of the caves. Maybe we can nurse him back to health."  
  
"Why would we want to?"  
  
"Am I the Prince?" Pyrus asked him.  
  
"Yes." Flare answered blankly.  
  
"And on Fire the Prince is the law, right?"  
  
"...Well, yes..."  
  
"Then come on." Pyrus took ahold of the Quarrior. Ember came to help and Flare reluctantly followed. Together they managed to drag him into the nearest cave.  
  
"He's heavy." Ember mentioned.  
  
"Let's get his armor off and check his injuries. Ember, you know all the back routes. Run and get some medicine and bandages. We'll do all we can."

* * *

The Quarrior groaned, opening his eyes.  
  
"Pyrus! He's waking!" Ember called.  
  
Pyrus came over to stand by the silent Quarrior, who blinked several times and looked around, bewildered. "Where am I?"  
  
"Safe enough for now." Pyrus assured him.  
  
"It hurts to move..." He sat up.  
  
"Easy!" He hurried to assist him. "You're badly injured. You need to rest."  
  
"Who are you?"  
  
"He's-" Ember began.  
  
"We're village children." Pyrus hastily cut her off. "I'm Pyrus, this is Ember, and over there - that's Flare. And you are?"  
  
"...Mica...Firean children..." He place his hand on his head. "Why are you helping me?"  
  
"You're injured." Pyrus replied. "We couldn't let you die. Are you hungry? We have some food."  
  
Ember hurried forward. "It's good." She held it out. Mica eyed it suspicously. Pyrus took a piece, and popped it into his mouth.  
  
"See? No harm. We didn't save you to poison you."  
  
Mica took the plate and began to eat. "I thought all the people of the four worlds all hated eachother."  
  
"If you don't mind my saying so...that's a pretty silly thought." Pyrus told him.  
  
Mica smiled. "What was your name?"  
  
"Pyrus."  
  
"Who taught you to think the way you think, Pyrus? To help even an enemy?"  
  
",,,my father."  
  
"He must be a remarkable man indeed."  
  
"He was."  
  
"We have to head back. After you finish eating, go ahead and rest again. You need all the rest you can get." Pyrus turned to go, Ember following.  
  
"Pyrus!" Mica called. Pyrus turned back. "You won't...you won't turn me over to the Igneous Knights, will you?"  
  
"You stuck-up Rock-hound!" Flare snapped from the cave entrance. "If that was our intention we'd already have done it!"  
  
"Flare!" Pyrus snapped. Flare lowered his eyes at once. Pyrus turned an apologetic smile on Mica. "I'm sorry, Mica. We-"  
  
"I'd probably act the same, if our positions were reversed." Mica cut him off.  
  
"Glad they're not then." Ember commented.  
  
Pyrus sighed. "Come on, we better go or the...uh...some people will worry about us. We'll be back tomorrow, Mica."  
  
The Rock Quarrior was already beginning to doze. Outside the cave Ember stopped Pyrus before they got too far. "Pyrus, my Prince...his injuries are severe. I doubt we'll be able to help him. No matter what we do, he'll probably still die."  
  
"...I know, Ember...I know..."

* * *

Present Day...  
  
Pyrus sat with a frown on the bridge of his flagship, deep in thought.  
  
"We shall be at the battle moon soon, my Prince." One of the pilots told him.  
  
Pyrus, roused out of his thoughts, stood. "Good. Send a message ahead and tell Lady Ember I wish to speak with her."  
  
"When, sir?"  
  
"As soon as we arrive." Pyrus exited.  
  
"He's been distracted." A second pilot commented.  
  
"Called back so soon after leaving, who can blame him?" One of the other bridgecrew commented.  
  
"The civilians need someone to look to when he's gone to calm them - a new Grand Vizier."  
  
"Perhaps he has come to that conclusion." The first pilot suggested.  
  
"Lady Ember?" The second turned to him.  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"I thought Flare might have been his choice." Another bridgecrew member commented.  
  
"Flare's an Igneous Knight." The second pilot disagreeed.  
  
"So?"  
  
"I think Lady Ember's a better choice." The first pilot opinioned. "She's calmer when the heat is on."  
  
"As long as he chooses, it doesn't matter who it is." The first bridgecrew member stated.

* * *

Planet Fire...Several Years Ago...  
  
"There are statues a hundred times your size, and mountains with veins of metal right on the surface." Mica was explaining to Pyrus and Ember, who were enthralled with his description. Flare sat a short ways away, not as enthralled, but still interested. "Great drums bigger than any of us, that are beaten to announce attacks."  
  
"What sort of animals?" Ember wanted to know. "Each world's unique. We have lava dogs, and magma snakes. Ice has ice crabs, and snow seals..."  
  
"We have cliff birds, pit spiders-"  
  
"Are cliff birds like fire hawks?" Ember queried.  
  
"Somehow I doubt it." Pyrus told her.  
  
"I've never seen a fire hawk." Mica told them.  
  
"They're beautiful!" Ember told him, leaping to her feet. "They have a huge wingspans, and long flame tales, and beautiful golden eyes! They live in dormant volcanos."  
  
"A week ago, I would have suspected that of being exaggeration.." Mica informed her.  
  
"Oh, it isn't." Ember shook her head.  
  
Mica smiled. "I know."  
  
"Tell us more." Pyrus prompted him.

* * *

Present Day...Battlemoon...Pyrus' Throne Room...  
  
"My Prince?" Ember approached Pyrus, where he sat deep in thought.  
  
"Ember." He stood.  
  
"You sent for me, my Prince." Ember bowed.  
  
Pyrus shook his head. "When did you and Flare ever get so hooked on ceremony?" He asked her.  
  
"When did you learn to hate it so?" Ember countered. Pyrus smiled. "You sent for me, is something wrong?"  
  
"...Ember, do you remember Mica?"  
  
"Mica?...Of course I do. How could I forget? That incident changed us all."  
  
"Yes...it did...." Pyrus agreed.

* * *

Planet Fire...Several Years Ago...  
  
"We brought some more medicine...and some cool water for your fever." Ember told Mica. He lay very still on the make-shift bed they'd made him.  
  
"All the medicine in the universe can't save me, Ember of Fire." Mica replied.  
  
"But you must live..." Ember looked at him sadly. Mica shook his head.  
  
"Is there anything more we can do for you?" Pyrus asked him.  
  
"...Take me outside...let me see the sky one last time..." Mica suddenly broke into a coughing fit.  
  
"Easy..." Ember layed her hand on his shoulder. "You must rest."  
  
"There is no point in resting, Lady." Mica told her.  
  
"We'll take you outside." Flare spoke suddenly. Ember and Pyrus turned to him, surprised.  
  
"You'll make a fine warrior." Mica told him.  
  
"Coming from such a strong warrior, that is a high compliment."  
  
"You have never seen me fight." Mica stated.  
  
"Yes, I have. Everyday for the last several weeks. And you fought bravely, without complaint." Flare replied.  
  
"Come, let's get you outside." Pyrus said into the silence that followed Flare's statement. He offered Mica his hand, which he took, allowing him to help him to his feet. He swayed.  
  
"Careful." Ember grabbed his other arm. She was crying, her tears scorching the golden mask she wore.  
  
"Tears for me. gentle Lady of Fire?...Do not cry for me. I will be fine, soon."  
  
"I'm sorry." Ember told him. "I can't seem to help it. I'm usually much stronger." She looked down.  
  
Mica tilted her chin up, and Ember saw that he, too, was crying. "Tears are not weakness."  
  
Then Flare took the arm she held, and she let go - following as they led him outside.

* * *

Present Day...Battle Moon...Pyrus' Throne Room...  
  
"What about Mica?" Ember asked him.  
  
"I discovered something today I wish I hadn't, and it's connected to Mica."  
  
Ember's brow knitted in confusion. "What do you mean?"  
  
"I found his family...atleast part of it..."  
  
Ember's eyes widened.

* * *

Planet Fire...Several Years Ago...  
  
"There is Rock." Mica pointed to a bright star in the sky above Fire. "My homeworld...I wish I could see it one last time."  
  
"I'm sorry, we cannot grant you that wish." Ember told him.  
  
"Eh?" Mica turned to her. "...oh, I know that...It's alright. I wish I could tell my people about you. All you have done for me."  
  
"It would change nothing." Flare told him.  
  
"Perhaps not." Mica replied. "Perhaps not..."  
  
"That, I think, is the truly saddest thought of all." Pyrus spoke up, and silence descended ont the group for several minutes.  
  
Then Mica turned to Pyrus, removing a crystal from around his neck. "Please, take this...if our worlds truly never make peace, please just keep it as a reminder that we are capable of such a feat. And if we do, by some chance, please return it to my family." He layed it in Pyrus' hand, leaning back wearily.  
  
"Why me?" Pyrus asked him.  
  
"Another incentive...to try and finish...your father's work." Mica's eyes began to close.  
  
"Then you know who I am?" Pyrus looked at him, eyes wide. Mica opened his eyes one last time, and went to say something. But only a sigh escaped his lips as he collapsed back on the rocks, a secret smile on his face. Pyrus looked at him sadly.  
  
"He's gone, my Prince." Flare told Pyrus, regret in his voice.  
  
"What do we do?" Ember asked.  
  
Pyrus looked up, and saw she was crying again. "We bury him." He told her.

* * *

Present Day...Planet Ice...Later...  
  
"Enter." Graveheart called when the door buzzer buzzed.  
  
Pyrus entered slowly, carrying a small box. "Graveheart."  
  
"Prince Pyrus." Graveheart greeted. "Are you leaving to return to the Battlemoon?"  
  
"Shortly. The ceremony to install my new Grand Vizier starts later today. But I needed to speak to you first."  
  
"What about?"  
  
"Something that happened on my homeworld several years ago."  
  
"On your homeworld?" Graveheart asked blankly.  
  
"After a battle between Rock and Fire."  
  
"Go on." Graveheart told him when he paused.  
  
"It was the morning after the battle. Ember, Flare and myself went to the battlezone. We found a Rock Quarrior there. He had fallen, apparently, off a cliff into the lava river below, and was tossed ashore..."  
  
Graveheart paused. "You mean you found his body."  
  
"No, he was not dead..." Pyrus couldn't meet Graveheart's questioning gaze. "We took him to a nearby cave. Cared for him as well as we could...but it was no use. He died several weeks later..." Pyrus looked down at the box he carried. "But before he died, he gave me something. He said to keep it if our worlds remained at war...but if they made peace, he asked me to return it to his family."  
  
Graveheart was watching Pyrus solemnly. "What was his name?"  
  
Pyrus opened the box the box slowly, revealing the light blue crystal Mica had given him. "His name was Mica."  
  
"Mi..ca..?"  
  
Pyrus sat the box that held Mica's crystal down, next to the box he had previously knocked over. "I am sorry, Graveheart. We did all we could, but his injuries wre too severe..."  
  
"...I was on Fire with him." Graveheart told him. Pyrus looked up, eyes wide. "I couldn't save him from the fall...I thought he died instantly."  
  
"He didn't...but he hid die...Graveheart, I am sorry. Until I saw your picture of Mica, I had no idea...Ember has always said that incident changes us all. We spoke to him alot in the weeks we cared for him...We all learned that the people of the four worlds were not so very different...I do not think I would have had the strenth to deny the Vizier and accept the Alliance's first visit to Fire if I had never met Mica."  
  
"I doubt I would have been in a position to help form the Alliance if Mica had not died." Graveheart told him.  
  
"My father once told me that the flames of regret are doused only with the ashes of understanding." Pyrus watched as Graveheart slowly picked up Mica's crystal. "Perhaps I should go." Pyrus turned to leave.  
  
"Pyrus?" Graveheart's voice stopped him.  
  
"Yes?" Pyrus looked back.  
  
"Thank-you."  
  
Pyrus nodded, and left.

* * *

Salmon 2002 


End file.
